Latest science news in Earth & Climate
'Gulf weed' could be spill casualty
The BP oil spill threatens to suffocate "Gulf weed," an algae that is key to dozens of species of marine life in the Gulf. Oil spill...
Video: BP Worst-Case Estimate Revealed
Over the past two months the oil leak estimates have constantly changed but a new internal BP document shows the worst-case number could be 100,000 barrels. As Don Teague reports,...
Antarctic ice melt: 10 percent of sea rise
CAMBRIDGE, England, June 22 (UPI) -- New research led by the British Antarctic Survey shows West Antarctica's ice melt currently contributes nearly 10 percent of the global sea level...
Caspian spill catastrophic, minister says
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 22 (UPI) -- An oil leak in the Caspian Sea barely the size of the Gulf of Mexico spill would be catastrophic, a former Russian...
Flood creates a U.S. canyon in three days
PASADENA, Calif., June 22 (UPI) -- A U.S. geologist and geographer say they are studying the recent flood-caused creation of a Texas canyon to gain insight into ancient flooding...
Gender-bending fish problem in Colorado creek mitigated by treatment plant upgrade
Male fish are taking longer to be 'feminised' by chemical contaminants that act as hormone disrupters in Colorado's Boulder Creek following the upgrade of a wastewater treatment plant in Boulder...
Ocean stirring and plankton patchiness
Computer simulations performed by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Glasgow show how oceanic stirring and mixing influence the formation and dynamics of plankton patches in...
Discovery of subatomic particles could answer deep questions in geology
An international team including scientists from Princeton University has detected subatomic particles deep within the Earth's interior. The discovery could help geologists understand how reactions taking place in the planet's...
Enzyme trio for biosynthesis of hydrocarbon fuels
If concerns for global climate change and ever-increasing costs weren’t enough, the disastrous Gulf oil spill makes an even more compelling case for the development of transportation fuels that...
Body found near Deep River was scientist
The body pulled out of the Ottawa River near the town of Deep River earlier this month belonged to a Chalk River scientist who disappeared in January, Ottawa police said...
Impasse broken on weather project
The long-running dispute over the contract to build Europe's next weather satellite's is settled.
High-precision drilling robot, amongst novelties at Machine-Tool Biennial
It is clear that the future of manufacturing and automation is sustained on two fundamental premises — portable machinery and cooperative robotics — , according to the Machine-Tool...
Kenya hopes to become Africa's carbon trade hub
Kenya's latest budget reveals big plans for the country to become a leader in carbon trading and to restore its damaged ecosystems.
Hundreds urged to evacuate ahead of Arizona wildfire
A fast-spreading wildfire swept across 7-square miles of land on the outskirts of this forested mountain city, threatening homes and prompting calls for hundreds of evacuations.
British geologists probe Arctic origins
Two British scientists are heading to Ellesmere Island to continue research aimed at unlocking the geological origins of the Arctic.
Mexico: US$450 million against climate change
Mexico will receive a US$450 million loan from the World Bank for mitigating the impact of climate change on the water sector.
Can the River Save the Deltas?
Gushing water from the Mississipi River into Lousiania's delta wetlands may help mitigate oil contamination, researchers believe.
Controversial plan to revive Dead Sea
Activists unite with industrialists to oppose World Bank study into project to transport water from Red SeaIn a plastic-lined hole in a spit of sand stretching out into the Dead Sea, something...
Stephen Hawking on PI and Progress
In a public address before a packed audience at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), Prof. Stephen Hawking, PI Distinguished Research Chair, recounted his research, life and times, saying that...
BP says $2 billion spent on US oil spill
BP revealed Monday it has so far spent two billion dollars on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, after an internal BP document suggested the gusher might be spewing far...
Grassed waterways including compost filter socks reduce soil erosion and herbicide concentrations from fields
A new study finds that compost filters socks can reduce soil erosion from croplands and reduce the amount of herbicide in runoff.
Climate change commitments 'missing' in G8 Accountability Report
WWF is critical of the G8 Accountability Report released today for not measuring progress on one of the most substantial G8 development and climate change commitments to date: to limit...
Chopper crash kills 4 in Afghanistan
Australian officials say three of the dead were Australians, and a U.S. officer says the fourth service member killed was American. There were no indications of enemy involvement. ...
China wants Iran's gas despite sanctions
BUSHEHR, Iran, June 21 (UPI) -- Beijing remains keen on operating in the North Pars natural gas field despite tight new sanctions on Tehran, diplomats said in Bushehr, Iran.
Roy Greenslade: Sunday Times 'correction' was a giant climbdown
The Sunday Times carried a rather large "correction" yesterday that, once read alongside the original offending article, amounted to a complete retraction. In fact, it was a giant climbdown. In The Sunday Times...
10:10 campaigners push to keep summer time all year round
Parliament today hears evidence from Cambridge academic Dr Elizabeth Garnsey that not putting clocks back will save carbon emissions and livesAs the UK wakes up to the longest day of the year today,...
Climate Scientist Gets a Media Apology
A scientist who says he was criticizing the United Nations climate panel for failing to cite proper sources -- not questioning the validity of its conclusions -- gets an apology...
Ridge clue to Antarctic ice loss
The discovery of an underwater ridge in Antarctica offers a clue to why ice flowing into the sea has accelerated, say researchers.